Newcastle United make a formal inquiry for Chelsea striker Armando Broja
Ambitious Premier League side Newcastle United are ready to throw their name in the hat for the services of highly-rated young Chelsea striker Armando Broja.
The Albanian is a hot commodity this summer, having impressed on loan at Southampton last season. The Saints are keen on signing him permanently, but they will be facing stiff competition by the looks of it.
London rivals West Ham United have already tabled a £30m offer for Broja, but it’s going to take way more than that for Chelsea to sell, especially to a bitter rival.
According to The Northern Echo (h/t football.london), Newcastle United are now formally joining the race for the 20-year-old and have made an inquiry to Chelsea as the Magpies start to consider their forward options for next season.
Newcastle, just like Chelsea, are set for a major overhaul this summer. They have already signed goalkeeper Nick Pope from Burnley and have a deal in place for Reims striker Hugo Ekitike.
This leaves Broja with no shortage of options to consider, should he prioritise regular playing time. Unless he is able to convince Thomas Tuchel during pre-season that he can be Chelsea’s focal point of scoring goals, Broja is likely to remain on the fringes.
In which case, it will be in Chelsea’s best interests and Broja’s too to at least send him out on loan because one way or another, he needs to play regularly. Sitting on the bench every week is not a viable alternative to not selling/loaning him.
Pre-season will answer a lot of questions
Chelsea’s goal-scoring woes have been ongoing for over a decade now. The last Chelsea player to score 20+ Premier League goals in a season was Didier Drogba, all the way back during the 2009-10 season.
That’s an alarming fact, despite all the success the club has had. Owing to the current standards Manchester City and Liverpool have set, Chelsea cannot come close to challenging for the league title until they find a solution to their blunt attacking play.
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Broja is young, pacey and at times, prolific too. Is he ready to be the central figure to build Chelsea’s attack around? That is something we cannot answer yet because we haven’t seen enough of him in senior-level football.
Losing him on a permanent deal may come back to haunt Chelsea big time, so maybe those at SW6 are better off considering loan deals only – should he not account into Tuchel’s plans after pre-season. If he does, that’s wonderful news. Broja will then have the weight of the world on his shoulders, but pressure yields diamonds.